Category Archives: Drawings & Paintings

I painted a little reminder for the new year to let ourselves blossom in all the right directions for all the right reasons:

Get Thinking!

So I start off my planning for 2018 with a little thought experiment: Who, what, where would I be if nothing in the world held me back, neither circumstances nor fear? Dream big, no judging and no reality checks.

Now I review these visions. What of these things feel “just right” – which ideas hit the sweet spot between exactly-me, deeply motivating, and uncomfortable, but sort of attainable? Then I start planning out the steps needed to get there. Choose some priorities. And review regularly.

The regular-review step is what I neglected too much in 2017. So here’s to a fresh start with the magic of a whole new year spreading out ahead! And weekly and monthly review sessions 😉

I got myself a trio of the fabulous Pentel Aquash brushes I saw on Little Coffee Fox’s blog and vowed to not let perfectionism stop me ever again. So here it is: my first watercolour painting since secondary school!

Oh Joy!

In fact, this painting even has its root in a lucky mishap:

A copper paint marker I meant to write with emitted huge splotches of copper ink. I drew those away from the original splotches to suggest hanging copper bridges between tall mast buildings. This inspired me to try painting an abandoned urban wastelandscape. The idea was further cemented by watching The Divergent trilogy – I have to say I’m quite infatuated with the idea of post-apocalyptic scenarios at the moment.

Of course this painting turned out wildly different from the original idea once I’d started. I will have to revisit the copper, possibly combined with grey tones and on a smaller canvas.

This is a pencil portrait of my ex C that I mainly worked on in January this year. I did some finishing touches towards completion during May when we broke up, to get it over with and because I cared too much about the drawing itself and the feelings inside it to just throw it aside prematurely. It’s still not very “finished”, but as usual, the sketchy way it is will have to do and I don’t mind leaving it like this forever. I like sketchiness.

For a week or two lately, I didn’t even like to think of the drawing as it only reminded me of the very uncivil, angering way he ended our relationship.

By now, I have pretty much gotten over this last angry stage, and now the drawing means something new to me – it is an expression of the pure, curious, newfound love that he made me feel at the beginning of our relationship, when I was bewildered, confused, exhausted, blissful and happy. It was when those few obstacles that arose seemed like an offer from life for me to just jump over light-heartedly and to deepen our relationship.

It doesn’t picture him how he is as a person and how I know him to be now anymore, it depicts the love I felt and the image I had of him. I am somewhat at peace.

___

The portrait is loosely based on a photo from our 9-day-self-planned-big-travel-and-hiking-trip to Sweden in August 2011. It was a sunny dreamy afternoon in our cottage, after a small hike in the woods and self-made dinner.
Also, refer to this pic for some alternate lulz.

I should be spending my time studying, preparing for the final Bachelor exams in July, yet here I am and I haven’t touched any of the uni books today. Instead, I am drawing while chatting with A., K. and N. and listening to music. It’s rather rare that N. and me are online at the same time, and I don’t feel calm enough to draw quite often lately, but right now I do. So whatever! Damn you books! You will still be here tomorrow.

Thanks to N. for for the title of this post : )

– N. said he imagined me standing with my hands on my hips going like ‘tädää’ when I logged on, like a manga character. That’s how I imagined him imagining me!